This Mike Trout Monday will be a brief one, as Trout remains sidelined with the wrist injury that finally landed him on the disabled list on Friday. The Angels expect him to return Thursday for the opening of their four-game set against the Texas Rangers.

The absence means Trout no longer occupies his rightful place atop the MLB Wins Above Replacement leaderboard, and it probably spells doom for his chances of earning a third AL MVP Award in 2018. It’s too soon to count him out, of course, as there’s always some non-zero chance Trout has the best September of his life while Mookie Betts and Jose Ramirez both suddenly go in the tank.

But the 2018 AL MVP field as it stands in mid-August looks too crowded for Trout win the award in the face of voters who’d rather honor a player on a contender. That pair, plus the likes of Francisco Lindor, Alex Bregman and Matt Chapman, will all get consideration for their contributions to playoff-bound teams, and the 15 games’ worth of missed action for Trout makes him unlikely to show himself so much more valuable over the course of a season as to take home the hardware.

Provided Trout does return this week, he still maintains a strong shot at again completing one of this author’s favorite Mike Trout Achievements. By WAR, Trout finished his age-20 season as the best all time at his age. He repeated the feat in his age-21, age-22, age-23 and age-24 seasons, but his 2017 injury prevented him from surpassing Ty Cobb’s age-25 total. Another month and a half’s worth of Trout-caliber play will get him past Cobb’s 1913 cumulative total and earn him the claim to the highest WAR ever through his age-26 season.

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